Phillip Prejean
'Phillip Prejean '(born January 29, 1963) is an American politician who currently serves as the Junior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana. Character Age: 53 Character Height: 5'7 Character Weight: 160 Character Position/Role/Job: United States Air Force (1981-1983) United States Marine Corps (1983-1996), Jefferson Parish Council (1998-2006), Jefferson Parish President (2010-2014), Candidate for United States Senate (Louisiana) Appearance: (Image) Character State of Origin: Louisiana Character Party Affiliation: Republican Main Strengths: Moderate appeal, fiscal conservative, military experience, hawkish neoconservative foreign policy, recognition from being President of one of the most influential parishes in the state. Main Weaknesses: Reminiscent of establishment politics, some perceived corrupt dealings during his tenure as the Parish President, somewhat uncharismatic and uninspiring speaker. Biography: Phillip was born on January 29, 1963 to Quinton and Irene Prejean. His father was an Air Force Colonel who served in the Korean War while his mother remained in the house to take care of Phillip and his nine siblings. Phillip followed in his father's footsteps after graduated from nearby Jesuit High School in New Orleans, enlisting with the Air Force and finding himself serving as a mechanic at the American base in Germany. In 1983, however, he decided to transfer to the Marine Corps. This time, he wasn't a mechanic - but rather an infantryman for the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment in Camp Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He found himself quickly being deployed to Lebanon for peacekeeping purposes, however, and was there during the 1983 embassy bombing in Lebanon. He returned home in June, but only before another deployment to Lebanon a couple months later in October. He returned home, on shore leave, with the rest of the unit and remained in the country for a few years. He worked his way up the ranks, and was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergent by 1989. Phillip took part in Operation Sea Signal, beginning in 1994, which was a humanitarian mission that consisted of helping Haitian and Cuban migrants to the United States, and described it as a critical moment he decided to enter into politics at some point in his life. Before the mission was completed in Haiti, however, his unit was pulled to help with UN and NATO peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia starting in September of 1995 till 1996 when the unit finally returned back home. Prejean was then promoted to the rank of First Sergeant, after displaying clear leadership and command skills during his relatively short tenures in both Haiti and Yugoslavia. After 15 years of military service, Prejean was granted an honorary discharge from the military to return home to his family. Prejean decided to dive into local politics, running for an outgoing, termed-out Councilmen's seat on the Parish Council. His own district just so happened to be the one that had an opening, allowing him the opportunity to enter into politics and to represent his own friends and neighbors. Prejean worked hard, printing out signs and knocking on doors to campaign the old fashioned way against an opponent who presumed an easy victory against who he perceived to be weak competition. Prejean ended up getting enough votes to dominate the election, winning the seat in a landslide, and held firm onto his seat during his re-election as well. Prejean was loved by his constituents - if not because of his politics, then by his genuine concern for his neighbors. Philip never held formal rallies during his political career, but rather preferred rather to hold small, intimate gatherings and shaking hands with passerbys on the street. This same style, a personal-touch, gave him another commanding win against a touch opponent in 2010 for Parish President, where he held the executive role for only one term. While he did butt-heads with many during his time on the Council, he seemed to spark a rivalry with a particular councilman when he was Parish President in 2011. His rival decided to spread rumors of corrupt dealings and sexual deviancy, despite the fact that Prejean cleaned house from the previous corrupt administration and held a remarkably transparent administration. The nastiness reached a boiling point in 2014, when he announced that he wasn't going to seek re-election. Prejean was courted by many wealthy and influential residents within his former constituency, clamoring for him to enter into the 2016 Senate race. Phillip finally reluctantly agreed after seeing Jason Larson making a declaration that he was running for Senate on Breitbart and a long list of individuals whom he have thought were simply too incompetent to force Larson out of the race. Throughout the Jungle Primary, Prejean avoided throwing barbs at Larson - leaving him to his own devices. However, that is no longer an option given the fact that he is now facing Larson head-to-head to represent the state of Louisiana in the United States Senate. Other Info: Phillip is married to Kelly-Anne Taylor Prejean (49), and the two of them have two children: Deanie Prejean (27) and Lola Prejean (24). He also publicly supported Calvin Reed throughout the Presidential Election. Phillip made headlines during the Louisiana jungle-primary on a repeated pledge to lead the charge in Congress to decisively defeat ISIS as well as a pledge to 'drain the swamp' in Washington, DC. His opponents often tried, and for the most part failed, to connect him with a perception of corruption after one of his platoon-mates during his time in the Marine Corps was granted a job within the Jefferson Parish government and was caught embezzling money for unknown reasons - however, there was some rumors and speculation that he was doing so to fund Prejean's re-election campaign, although this was never proven as no evidence to suggest a connection between Prejean and the embezzler had ever been procured. Prejean was also under scrutiny during his time as Jefferson Parish President when one of his aides was caught lobbying the Parish Council to favor a contract proposal set forth by a friend and donor of Phillip Prejean. Word of the incident spread, and a perception of political favoritism started to follow, but Prejean refused to fire the aide until video and audio of the incident was released. There was no direct connection between Prejean and the aide's lobbying (such as the case with the embezzler), but perception of guilt temporarily tanked his approval ratings. His otherwise successful governance of Jefferson Parish, despite an openly hostile Parish Council, vindicated Prejean of any wrongdoing in the all-important court of public opinion- especially so when an attempt to recall Prejean from President had failed miserably in procuring the votes needed to even trigger a vote and the Councilman who lead the charge went on an angry tirade on social media against the people of Jefferson Parish, causing the councilman to resign three days later. Going to use Terrelis's format when it comes to the issues: Abortion: Pro-Life, with exception for the life of the mother. Education: Supports "Pay-for-Performance" incentives for teachers and the return of fully funding the state's TOPS program. Healthcare: Supports repeal of the Affordable Care Act, preferring a more market-based replacement - dissolve state boundaries limitations that prevent competition, which would drive down costs. Protect Medicaid. (Think Kasich's Mid-Point Plan) Gun Control: Respect the Second Amendment, repeal zealous laws that prevent responsible individuals from obtaining weapons. "The Second Amendment is the only thing that protects the other Amendments from domestic tyranny." Immigration: Supports an expansion to the Guest-Worker Program that allows non-criminal undocumented immigrants the right to apply. Criminal illegal immigrants must be deported. Immigration reform must occur and must reflect on a merit-based system as opposed to a family-based system. More screening for refugees and those seeking asylum within the United States. "If we don't know who you are or where you've been, we cannot accept you into our country." Justice: Promises to sponsor legislation to make private prisons illegal if elected to the United States Senate. Supports body-cameras on law enforcement officials. Believes that minorities are sometimes unfairly targeted. Government: Supports reforms of the campaign finance system that forces PACs to be even more transparent with their donor list. Supports term-limits for Congress. Drugs: Opposes marijuana legalization, believing that it is a gateway-drug and serves no utilitarian purpose. Supports an exception to medical marijuana. Same-Sex Marriage: "Marriage is between one man and one women. No exceptions." Taxes: Supports a marginal raise in taxes on the wealthy, but tax cuts for the rest and a closure of tax loopholes. Supports an overall greater simplification of the tax code. Labor: Supports the idea of a federal 'right-to-work' law, believes many unions are corrupt and too bureaucratic to be truly supportive of workers and their rights. Energy: Opposes the idea of energy subsidization, whether it be for fossil fuels or renewable energy, and believes that the people, through the free market, ought to decide the pathway to energy future. Environment: Believes that climate change is happening and is caused by man, but also thinks that the free market is more than capable of making socially-responsible decisions. Budget: Supports a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution. Vocal supporter of WAC and seeks to expand it even further. Social Security: Supports a reduction of benefits for the wealthiest of recipients as well as raising the retirement age to 70. Foreign Relations: Supports the idea of a no-fly-zone as well as removing President Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria, but says "America's top priority in Syria and in Iraq is the obliteration of ISIS." Supports the idea of putting more economic and political pressure on China to reign in North Korea. Thinks that Russia is a destabilizing force in Europe and that the United States must support Ukraine in its' struggle to remain an independent nation. Staunch supporter of NATO. Supports re-applying the embargo on Cuba to force a transition to a more democratic country. Considers a Iranian nuclear weapons program an 'existential threat' to both Israel and the United States.